A report on a massive security breach at the South Carolina tax collection agency shows the state could have done more to protect personal information for nearly 4 million taxpayers, Gov. Nikki Haley said Tuesday. She also said she accepted the resignation of Department of Revenue Director Jim Etter effective at the end of the year. Haley said the report from computer security firm Mandiant found hackers may have 3.3 million bank account numbers from South Carolina taxpayers. The state made two mistakes, according to the report. It didn't require two different ways to verify when someone was trying to get into the system to look at tax returns and it did not encrypt Social Security numbers, Haley said.

Trio get prison in foiled bomb plot

Three men were sentenced Tuesday to years in prison after admitting to taking part in an unsuccessful plot to bomb a highway bridge between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, with what turned out to be a dud device provided by a government informant. Prosecutors had described the suspects as self-proclaimed anarchists who acted out of anger against corporate America and the government. All three defendants – Connor Stevens, 20; Douglas Wright, 26; and Brandon Baxter, 20 – apologized in court. Wright, an Indianapolis man authorities called the ringleader, received the toughest sentence, 111/2 years. Baxter was given nearly 10 years in prison. Stevens was sentenced to more than eight years.

Long prison term for deadly day care fire

A Texas woman was sentenced to 80 years Tuesday for her felony murder conviction in the death of one of four children killed in a fire at her home day care in Houston. Jessica Tata, 24, was convicted last week in connection with the death of 16-month-old Elias Castillo. Authorities say Elias was one of seven children whom Tata left unsupervised at her home while she went to a nearby Target store. Prosecutors say she left a pan of oil cooking atop a stovetop burner and that this ignited the February 2011 blaze. Three other children were seriously injured.

Driver in parade crash is a veteran

A 50-year-old Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan was driving a parade float that investigators say edged across a railroad crossing in Texas despite warning signals of a fast approaching train, an attorney said Tuesday. Four veterans were killed in the resulting collision in Midland on Thursday. Sixteen people were injured. Dale Andrew Hayden was driving one of two flatbed trucks carrying wounded veterans and their loved ones in the procession to honor the war heroes, said Hal Brockett, Hayden's attorney. “Words can't express the sorrow and remorse for the people who got hurt and killed,” Brockett said in an interview Tuesday.

Girl, 13, fatally shot

on school bus

A South Florida teen has been charged with fatally shooting a girl in front of her sister and other students while riding the bus to school. Miami-Dade police say the 15-year-old was taken into custody at the scene in Homestead on Tuesday morning and later charged with manslaughter and carrying a concealed firearm. An arrest report says the minor took a gun from his backpack and began displaying it. He then fired it once, hitting Lourdes Guzman. She was airlifted to a Miami hospital, where she died.

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